Page 7 - Stan Frank Diaries

Stan Frank Diaries Episode 3

When the wooden billets (Spiders as they were known) were demolished some years ago, at
what was once the Arborfield Army Apprentice School/College, our archaeological team
unearthed a series of notes scribbled on Izal shiny toilet paper. Further investigation reveals
they may have also been written by the same AT Stan Franks whose Diary was discovered
when a building, said to be Jeepland, was more recently demolished.
Following the scandal surrounding Konrad Hujau who forged the Hitler Diaries in the 1980s,
we are somewhat concerned about the authenticity of the following. As this web site has
some of the best informed people in the country regarding life as a boy soldier, we at the
Imperial War museum ask if you would kindly evaluate the following.

April 1st
Moved into the Spiders. Don’t have to make a bed pack every day - Grovel. We are no longer
at the bottom of the sh*t heap. I can’t wait to jip my first Jeep.
Bumped the centre deck - some things clearly don’t change.

April 2nd.
There are sixteen of us in J3, including the room corporal who has his own bunk. He leaves
his boots outside the door for some other poor twat to clean.
Atkinson grabbed the best bed space just inside the door because his name begins with
A…… and he’s quite hard.

April 3rd
We have fire doors at the end of the room. Considering the entire building is made of wood
and some blokes smoke in bed, they’re probably a good idea. Anyway they open onto the
square so we can abuse passing Jeeps.

You often see the red glow of fag-ends after lights out. I don’t think any of us will survive
past 40. We’ll all die of lung cancer. Bartlett reckons that one day they will ban smoking in
barrack rooms. Everyone laughed - as if that will ever happen!

April 5th
Lunchtime. Moved to jip my first Jeep. Actually he is was bigger than me so I waited for a
smaller one to turn up.

April 7th
The CSM carried out a room inspection. A lot of kit became airborne. McGuiness was the
only one not to have his Top Kit toppled. He’s an arse-licker but has an older brother in 7 Div
so we can’t kick the shit out of him.

April 8th
Allowed out of camp almost every weekend now but you have to walk past the Guardroom.
That’s where the MPs hang out. At night they return to their coffins.